New exhibit opens at Chehaw thanks to Lee Co. Middle School West students

The fruit bat exhibit is right next to the aviary in the Chehaw zoo. (Source: WALB)

One of the groups renderings of a possible fruit bat exhibit. (Source: WALB)

Parent's watching their students talk about their projects. (Source: WALB)

Lee County Middle School West is proud to have this sign on the new exhibit. (Source: WALB)

Student Mikayla Wentzell enjoyed taking what she learned in class and incorporating it into her project. (Source: WALB)

LEE CO., GA (WALB) -

STEM Students at Lee County Middle School West are done with a project they have worked on since March.

Tuesday's severe weather kept many inside, but that didn't stop students from celebrating their new fruit bat exhibit at Chehaw.

Parents and students attended a final presentation, in place of a formal ribbon cutting ceremony.

Teams of students were assigned to design an exhibit for the animals.

The winning design was built at Chehaw by their employees with grant money.

Students were excited to see their hard work and newly acquired knowledge of adaptations and biomes in the real world.

"We incorporated this knowledge into the organism's exhibit. The fruit bat, which is my organism for example, is adapted to have very long claws and very large wings. So they like a lot of flying room. In their exhibit, we incorporated a large amount of room for them to fly," said student Mikayla Wentzell.

Lee County Middle School West also presented Chehaw with a check for $1,000.

The streets of Thomasville were a lot quieter on Thursday evening. But protesters broke the silence in downtown Thomasville Thursday afternoon, taking to the streets to vocalize their feelings following a deputy involved shooting on Tuesday.

The streets of Thomasville were a lot quieter on Thursday evening. But protesters broke the silence in downtown Thomasville Thursday afternoon, taking to the streets to vocalize their feelings following a deputy involved shooting on Tuesday.